Pilot dead as stunt jets collide mid-air
BENGALURU: Tragedy struck in the run up to Asia’s biggest air show on Tuesday when an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot was killed after two British-origin Hawk advanced jet trainers collided over the Yelahanka skies and crashed while practising advanced aerobatic maneuvers to be performed during the fiveday Aero India 2019 starting on Wednesday.
Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi, who was in his 30s and hailed from Haryana’s Hisar, was unable to eject from the aircraft.
Two other pilots injured in the incident were identified as Wing Commander VT Shelke and Squadron Leader TJ Singh. They are part of IAF’S renowned Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT), which consists of India’s finest fighter pilots trained to perform complex stunts. One of the jets had two pilots in it — Shelke and Singh — while the inverted aircraft was being flown by a single pilot, Gandhi, the IAF said in a statement.
Gandhi is survived by his wife and a six-year-old son.
The injured pilots, who managed to eject and parachuted to the ground at around 11.50 am, suffered minor injuries, accordspeeding
ing to the IAF statement. The jets were in a mirror manoeuvre — one flying inverted above the other — seconds before the collision, two journalists who witnessed the crash said.
Video footage of the collision shows that the nose of the aircraft on top brushed against the tail of the jet below before snapping off into pieces.
“I thought this can’t be happening. There was stunned, shocked silence all around us and then everyone moved at once. Emergency vehicles were already beginning to scream, across from the other end of the runway,” said Saurabh Joshi, editor of the military affairs website Stratpost.com. SKAT, equipped with Hawk Mk 132 trainers, carries out dazzling displays with its trademark nine-aircraft formation.
Manufactured by British defence and aerospace giant BAE Systems, India ordered 123 Hawks of which 24 were delivered in flyaway condition while the remaining were licence-produced at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).